Introduction to Near Field Communication (NFC) technology

Getting Started on Near Field Communication (NFC)

You may have seen recent TV commercials or shows that depict people using phones to transmit data between mobile devices with a single touch, or diners using their phones to make payments for their meals. Wonder what technology is behind all these feats? Well, it's all thanks to NFC and with so many new devices sporting this technology, from a variety of smartphones and tablets, to notebooks and even smart home appliances like the fridges and washing machines, we thought now's a good time for a nice primer on this subject matter, how it works and what it means for you.

NFC: What is it?

Near field communication, also known as NFC, is a form of wireless communication technology between modern mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Physically, the concept is fairly similar to how you would use the EZ-Link card locally; you tap or bring two devices close to one another to exchange information. However, unlike the stored value EZ-Link card, the phone helps conduct the transaction between the devices such as configuring them for usability or conduct a cashless payment via an e-wallet. We'll share more information on NFC usages later in the article.

How it Works

NFC is basically an evolution of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. It uses magnetic field induction to enable communication between devices which are close together. Its operation can be explained in three sections: signal technologies, tag types and modes of operation.

Signal Technologies

There are three different signalling technologies used today by NFC devices to communicate with one another. They are Type A, Type B and FeliCa.

Type A communication, also known as NFC-A , deploys delay encoding or Miller encoding with amplitude modulation at 100 per cent. In order for a transmission signal to be sent between devices, it must change from 0 to 100 per cent to register the difference between "1" and "0". In case you are wondering what is "1" and "0", there are values representing a bit, which is the basic capacity of information.

Type B communication, also known as NFC-B, uses Manchester encoding with amplitude modulation at 10 per cent. For a signal to be sent between devices, it must change from 90 per cent for low ("1") to 100 per cent for high ("0").

FeliCa, otherwise known as Felicity Card or NFC-F, is developed by Sony and widely used in Japan. It uses a slightly different variation of the Manchester encoding, and is faster and more popular.

Tag Types

Tags are integrated circuits with information stored in them that can read by NFC devices. There are currently four tag types used around the world. They are:

Type 1: they can be read and re-write capable, which means the tag can be configured to become read-only. Its memory availability is 96 bytes and expandable to 2KB.

Type 2: similar to Type 1, but with a smaller memory availability at 48 bytes and expandable to 2KB.

Type 3: Based on FeliCa, these tags are pre-configured to be either read and re-writable, or read-only. The memory availability varies.

Type 4: Compatible with NFC-A and NFC-B, the tags are pre-configured to be either read and re-writable, or read-only.

Modes of Operation

There are two modes of operation: active and passive. Active mode (initiator) means that both devices generate their own radio fields to exchange data, while passive mode (reader/writer) involves one device creating a radio field and the other using load modulation to transfer data.

An example of an active mode is the peer-to-peer sharing between NFC-enabled smartphones. In the Samsung Galaxy S III video ad below, the wife wants to share a video with her husband. Her phone acts as the initiator by sending out an invitation to connect while his phone is the target receiving the data.

On the other hand, an example of a passive mode is using a smartphone (reader/writer) to tap on a NFC tag. In the Xperia Smart Tags promo video below, the individual is seen using his Sony Xperia S to tap on several NFC tags to launch pre-configured apps and actions everywhere he goes.

Uses and Functions NFC is widely believed to lead the next frontier in cashless payments. As such, NFC is usually associated with the term, "mobile wallet". Consumers can make their payments using their phones in restaurants, public transport's networks and supermarkets. Different countries have various applications of NFC, some of which are really interesting.

Countries such as San Francisco use NFC for their parking meters. Parking meters have NFC stickers on them, which have unique identifiers that inform the app on NFC phones which exact meter does it correspond to. This allows drivers to save the hassle of entering the meter number and eradicate any mistakes as well.

Japan, one of the few countries in the world where NFC is widely adopted, is believed to have launched the first commercial service worldwide that enables passengers to use their NFC phones as boarding passes for its Japan Airlines.

Several car manufacturers also explored the concept of NFC car keys. In April 2012, BMW collaborated with Vingcard, a hotel key card specialist to develop a way for its drivers to book a hotel room from its cars, download the room key to an NFC-enabled car key and receive special promotions. Hyundai recently demonstrated its NFC car key concept where it not only allows an NFC phone to lock or unlock a car, but also sync data and preferences from the car's infotainment system to the driver's phone.

Marie Claire magazine ran its first NFC print magazine advertisement in its December issue. The advertisements were placed by Nuffield Health, and offer a free two-day gym membership for readers who tapped on the page.

Declan Boyle, advertising director at IPC Innovator commented that NFC technology is an attractive tool for advertisers who are looking for ways to connect the offline print world with the online digital world. He also mentioned that as NFC print ads are immediate, measurable, dynamic and are low-cost platforms with flexible distributions, NFC will help in consumer engagement.

Humble Beginnings - How NFC Kicked Off in Singapore

Seeing the need for industry collaboration for a successful and sustainable NFC deployment, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) established a industry Roundtable which comprised of MAS, LTA, MOF and 11 other key industry players (telcos, banks and payment service providers) in 2008.

In Feb 2009, IDA and the NFC Roundtable agreed to work together on the deployment of an interoperable NFC mobile payment system through a Trusted Third Party (TTP) infrastructure. The role of the TTP is to serve as a neutral party, linking the banks / payment providers, other service providers and telcos. It also reaps three benefits:

1. consumers can access any service of their choice, and not be limited by who the telco is partnering with
2. minimizes the duplication of infrastructure to save costs
3. meets the trust requirements of all parties for secure NFC mobile services

Nine months later in November 2009, IDA kickstarted an initiative to develop Contactless e-Purse Application (CEPAS) payment terminals in retail and other segments across Singapore. Following that, IDA also established an Over-The-Air framework and standards for deployment of CEPAS on NFC devices through a technical feasability study in April 2010.

To promote the proliferation and adoption of NFC mobile payment services, IDA issued the Deployment of Inteoperable Mobile NFC Infrastructure and Payment Services Call-For-Collaboration (CFC) from November 2010 to March 2011.

Through the CFC, seven companies (Gemalto Pte Ltd, Citibank Singapore Ltd, DBS Bank Ltd, EZ-Link Pte Ltd, M1 Limited, SingTel Mobile Singapore Pte Ltd and StarHub Mobile Pte Ltd) were brought together in October 2011 as Asia's first interoperable nationwide deployment of NFC mobile payment system. With a total investment of S$40 million, IDA and the seven companies will deploy the TTP infrastructure and more than 10 NFC mobile payment and value-added services by 2014. Its first wave of mobile payment services using NFC technology was planned for a launch in mid 2012.

Gemalto, a company specialising in digital security, was selected to develop and operate the infrastructure. DBS, EZ-Link and Citibank will be enabling a variety of credit/debit scheme cards and stored value payment products, to be issued over-the-air through Gemalto, and stored on the secure chips of customers' NFC-enabled phones. The three telcos will introduce NFC-enabled phones into the consumer market and provide customer support.

Due to some delays, NFC services only became live in Singapore towards the end of August 2012. Consumers will be offered a choice of multiple contact-less payment products on their NFC phones, while businesses will have the option of deploying secured mobile services. The consortium of companies also rolled out credit, pre-paid and stored-value payment services through NFC-enabled mobile phones in the weeks following the official launch.

StarHub started the ball rolling with the launch of its SmartWallet app, which is in collaboration with DBS, EZ-Link and Mastercard. The following day, M1 launched its Mobile Wallet app. Available on the day itself at all M1 shops were two NFC services, M1 NFC Prepaid MasterCard and EZ-link CEPAS. SingTel and EZ-Link Pte Ltd also made an announcement later in the day with the launch of its mPayment service.

NFC Adoption Outside of Singapore

Japan is still one of the leading countries that have adopted and use NFC widely. The consumer adoption rate for NFC is reported at 85 per cent in December 2012. NFC extends to almost every part of their lives, from using the technology to track their pets' health and fitness, promoting a drink via NFC hanging straps on trains to interacting with their NFC-enabled home appliances.

Malaysia launched its first commercial NFC service in April 2009. Tipped as the world's first multi-function NFC payment service, the launch was a collaboration among Maxis (the largest telco), Nokia, Maybank, Touch 'n Go (transport payment card issuer) and Visa.

The Maxis FastTap service enables consumers to use the Nokia 6122 Classic to purchase goods and services at more than 1,800 Visa PayWave merchant locations. It is also used to pay for toll, transit, parking and theme park charges at over 3,000 Touch'n Go points nationwide.

More recently, consumers in Malaysia can use their NFC phones to authenticate halal certified hotels and restaurants. The first phase of the project is to have the service in at least 60 locations in the Klang Valley, and a gradual nationwide roll out.

While the U.S is lagging behind with about 10-15 per cent consumer adoption of NFC, the technology is gaining momentum among consumers. While car parks in Singapore are managed by electronic parking systems, drivers in Oakland,California pay for their parking by tapping their NFC phones on the NFC parking meters.

Further momentum is attributed to the new, cloud-based version of the Google Wallet app. According to Frank T. Young, Commerce Business Development Manager of Google Wallet, usage of the Google Wallet app more than doubled in the weeks after its release on 2nd Aug. The wide partnership with over 25 national retailers and MasterCard PayPass enables U.S consumers to pay with their NFC phones at more than 200,000 retail locations.

NFC Usage Beyond E-Commerce

NFC usage is not restricted to just commerical transactions; it has seen action in the educational sector too. The University of San Francisco deployed an NFC trial system that integrates with the campus card system, enabling students to access rooms and make laundry payments with an iPhone in an add-on NFC case.

Elsewhere, NFC is being deployed for exchange of information and pairing of devices. For the latter, high-end headphones supporting NFC can be effortless paired with an NFC compatible mobile device just by tapping them to fast track the traditional Bluetooth pairing process. One of the latest of such devices is the Jabra Revo Wireless, but there are others in the market.

Meanwhile, phone makers have also embarked on NFC projects in Singapore. For example, Nokia introduced the Singapore NFC Hub in October 2011. Singapore NFC Hub is a website that allows businesses to order NFC tags and posters for commercial purposes. These NFC tags and posters can be pre-programmed to suit the different needs of businesses.

Nokia also partnered with taxi operator ComfortDelGro to offer NFC-enabled option as part of its FastCall automated taxi booking services at over 400 locations in Singapore. It also worked with SMRT to develop iMobSMRT spaces along the SMRT network. These spaces have NFC posters that are placed in MRT stations to allow consumers to make transactions, exchange content and book a taxi.

Research in Motion (RIM), the company manufacturing BlackBerry smartphones, and Sony also have pushed out NFC offerings to encourage the usage of NFC among consumers. RIM introduced the BlackBerry tag, a NFC feature in BlackBerry 7 OS smartphones where users can share contact information, documents, and URLs through a simple tap between their phones.

Sony also bundles NFC tags, known as Smart Tags along with some of its phone such as the Sony Xperia S. Roughly the shape and size of a round token, the Sony Smart Tag works with any NFC-enabled smartphones and allows you to pre-configure a set of actions on the Smart Tags. For example, you can configure the Smart Tag to trigger actions like turning on Wi-Fi and switching your phone to silent mode.

More recently, we've also noticed high-end consumer appliances going the way of adopting NFC so that these devices can be easily configured, check on the device health status, run diagnostics check and many other tasks that normally eat up small slices of time.

In our recent coverage of LG at the CES 2013 show, we've outlined how the company is making their appliances smarter by integrating NFC technology.

For example, you could obtain new washing cycle programmes from LG via your smart phone app and then programme the LG smart washing machine with these new updates by just tapping your phone to the machine.

On LG's Smart Fridge, you could tap your NFC compliant phone on it to obtain food storage levels and expiry details that would aid your grocery shopping and even sync the shopping list before you set out to the store.

On the home entertainment front, NFC is even integrated in LG's latest suite of home AV products to just tap and transfer the media you wish to beam to the big screen.

LG's not the only consumer electronics giant to have set foot on the NFC path. Panasonic has also taken this route and their strategy and NFC usage is outlined in this diagram-

NFC Usage Experience from HardwareZone Members

To further assist the growth and adoption of NFC locally, HardwareZone too played a vital role. Just recently, HardwareZone and StarHub recently arranged for a special NFC trial for a select number of our community members. During the 10-day trial, the 9 forum members were entitled to use the stored value of their SIM cards ($60 value) for their micro-payment like grocery, shopping at major apparel stores and merchants. Here's what they had to say from their usage experience in practical day to day scenarios that would surely be helpful for our fellow readers. Lastly, here's an ultra short video clip from our forum member siandiao that captured the process in actual use:-

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